Reflection of Weak and Strong
by LemonDrops334
Summary: Tiger Eye doesn't know the upward world. With the coming of her 20th year, Tiger wants to learn. Learn of good and evil. Learn what she has missed for 20 years.
1. Reflections tell a thousand tales

You Guys: LEMON! You made another story that you're never gonna finish! Why do you do dis?

 **I know, I know, I JUST CAN'T HELP IT. This is another kind of story.**

Tiger Eye curled her talons closer. She heard the clanging of the chain-clad army coming closer.

Things _had_ changed. The Ancient Queen didn't lie. She hid in the shadows as the dragons passed by. Should she capture one? Interrogate them?

She wasn't quite sure _she_ would approve... Sighing, Tiger Eye slipped back to the small stalagmite-ridden cave she called home.

"TIGER EYE!" the shout the sound of a whisper echoed around the cave.

Stumbling over the rocks around the cave, she found a snarling Vermillion.

"Where have you been!?" the aged dragon swiped at Tiger's nose and flared her wings, "You know we have to stay hidden!"

"Vermillion, I told you! I know what I'm doing! I'm not a dragonet." Tiger retorted.

"Might as well be, you listen as well as one." she grumbled in her snarled voice.

"You know, she _is_ the oldest. Ever since..." a voice sounded behind her.

"I know, Hematite. I'm also almost 20. I know what I'm doing. She treats me like a dragone-" Hematite held up an orange talon to silence her.

"And she's 86. You really should listen. She was there when it all happened. She was a guard and overseer." Hematite reasoned and gestured to another section of cave.

"At least she _got_ to see the world." Tiger grumbled, "Everyone here _has_. Last time I was above was when I was 1."

"I haven't seen sunlight in over 15 years, Tiger. You might outlive this war. I won't." she admitted with a serious face. They were almost to the sleeping section.

"Death seems to be a release to look forward to. I have nothing to look forward to." she flopped onto the sandstone formation.

"How about I tell you a story tomorrow. That gives you something to look forward to _other_ than your hatchday." Hematite added as she put her wing over Tiger, "I hope you know each and every dragon here cares for you. And your mother does and did to." she added the last sentence with a compassionate note.

Tiger sighed at her late mother's memory, "I hope so."

 _After that night..._

Tiger opened her eyes to an empty cave. Missing the warmth of the others, she headed out to the center, where a cool pond of freshwater was as still it looked like a giant mirror.

Tiger Eye looked into the pond, scanning her reflection. Her scales were the same reddish-brown as the stone she was named after, streaks of darker pigment marked her face to tail.

Looking into her green amber eyes, she saw memories.

 _"Momma, when will_ I _be able to see the sun?"_

 _"Don't worry, in time, I'm sure._ _Look into your reflection. See your bright eyes? They are even brighter than the sun to me."_

 _"Really!?"_

 _"Yes. And whenever you feel lost or alone, look to your reflection and remember I am part of you, and you are never alone."_

The reflection rippled and dissappeared as Tiger's tear hit the surface.

No longer needing the drink, she headed off to a well-known part of the cave to catch mice.

She walked in to see five mice in the center of the room and five old dragons smiling proudly at her, "Surprise!"

Hematite spoke up, "We decided to hunt after you fell asleep to get you a meal! They're all yours!"

"Guys, I can't- Not when you stayed up to catch them! At least have the tails!" Tiger smiled as she approached the pile, the earlier moment by the pond forgotten.

"Aw no. Tails are your favorite! We already ate, go ahead." Amber, a 77 year old dragon nudged her wrinkled wing with Tiger's.

They all left before Tiger could complain, so she ate the five mice. The stomach's of each of the dragons below the ground were shrunken, used to only a mouse or nothing a day. Eating this many mice in a sitting was almost too much for her small stomach.

After she made away with the mice, she headed over to the sleeping caves. Without much to do, most of the old dragons slept, being old and feeble.

Tiger didn't know what else to do, so she followed their lead. As she headed for the sandstone surface, Hematite came over.

"You're gonna sleep your hatchday away?" Hematite crossed her arms.

"What do you suggest? Everyone else is too old to do anything." Tiger sighed.

"Hold on, are you saying a 53-year-old dragon can't keep up with _you_?" Hematite flared her wings, "I'm not as old as Vermillion, I can still swim. Come on, let's got to the Springs."

"Isn't that a little _dangerous_ to be swimming in?" Tiger said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Come on!" Hematite raced off.

Tiger grinned and sprinted after Hematite's orange shrinking form.

They were heading for the heated waters of the underwater spring. Vermillion, with her vast knowledge of the world, told the others that the heat from the fire within Pyrrhia caused the water to warm.

When Tiger asked how the fire got there, Vermillion told her of giant SkyWings with wings as big as the universe battling, good versus evil, and within their final blast of flame, because they were so evenly matched, the center of the world of Pyrrhia was made.

 _"Good is never as strong as evil by itself._ " she said wistfully, _"It is only paired with the knowledge of evil and of hope and love will the truest of true rise forward and stop the tyranny and darkness of the rival."_ her eyes became misty, " _Only the strong, paired with knowledge of the weak can bring peace,_ "

"Why are you standing there?" Hematite snapped Tiger out of her thoughts, "Get in! It's not getting any warmer!"

 **What do you think? I worked really hard on this one. It's loosely based on an old RP in my forum, Fanwings of the World. Go and check it out, i mean, only if you want to, it's no big deal, but it'd be cool to see you there I mean-**


	2. Coverup

**Hey guys. I've had a really stressful week, so sorry about not uploading sooner. This was done for a while, just needed a finishing touch and a good time to publish.**

Tiger jumped into the Spring. She always relished the feeling of the hot water washing over her scales. It always burned her a bit, but she liked the feeling.

"That's more like it!" Hematite laughed as she headed over to the shelf where most of the elders stood, as not to drown.

"Oh, seems _someone_ can't handle swimming!" Tiger teased as she flipped onto her back, her wings out so she stayed afloat.

"Ha ha, you imagine being 2 times older, then hitting boiling water at a high speed." She slapped her wing to splash Tiger Eye.

"Hey!" Tiger protested at the water as it hit her snout. She flipped around to stare at Hematite, only her eyes and snout above the surface.

"Now, don't treat your elders like that." Hematite posed dramatically. Tiger was about to speak when Hematite raised a claw, "Did you hear that?"

Tiger pricked her ears, both the full-grown dragons as still as the stalagcites around them.

Then it came. It sounded like a muffled roar, but not from a dragon they knew.

Hematite began hastily running through the caves, Tiger on her tail.

Hematite signaled to stop and listen. They were near the end of the mountain. Tiger put her ear on the rocky wall and heard shouts and screams, clanking metal and a weird clashing sound over it.

Hematite took a listen and gasped, her voice hoarse and almost silent, " _They've never come this far before."_

Hematite withdrew herself from the wall, then sprinted off, quietly calling for Vermillion.

Tiger felt fear clutch her heart with it's iron grip. Hematite never freaked out about anything. Not even when there was no mice for a week.

Shaking herself, she followed after Hematite. She spotted a dash of orange scales around the corner, and she ran after it.

Hematite was with Vermillion, whose eyes were going wide from Hematite's story. She hadn't seen Vermillion so angry. Or fearful. Smoke poured from her nostrils.

"Well, we can't just sit like ducks. We need to evacuate!" Vermillion stood up with some effort.

"Remember what the Queen said, we need to stay down, she-" Vermillion cut off Hematite with a snarl.

"We do not talk about the ancient Queen around the child!" she hissed, looking heisitantly at Tiger.

"I am _not_ a dragonet!" Tiger shouted, "Today is my 20th hatchday!"

"Why don't you start acting like it then!" Vermillion shouted back when Hematite stepped between them.

"Hold on guys, we are wasting time fighting amongst ourselves. The Queen knew best, we have to stay here." she looked at both in turn.

"You're right. Sorry Tiger Eye. I didn't mean to snap." The proud dragon said, not lowering her head a bit, "The other dragonesses should know. Anywho, we'll start blocking the walls, if you find any holes, block 'em up. Immediately."

Hematite nodded and both her and Tiger left. Tiger suddenly felt dread crawl along her spine as she thought of the hole she crawled out to watch the soldiers march out to war.

"Wait, what if they were ambushed! Then we don't need block off the mountain, do we?" Tiger said.

"I hope it is, but there is no such thing as too careful when you're hiding from the world." Hematite curled her tail with Tiger's, "Let's forget about it, okay? Vermillion will have the others patch up the walls, it's your Hatchday, and I promised a story."

"You're right, no reason to be crazy." Tiger allowed herself to be led to the sleeping cave.

Tiger allowed Hematite to change the subject, only for a good story though. Hematite was the best storyteller, she always fascinated Tiger and the others with her words and inflection in her voice.

"Did I hear a story?" Pyrope, a half-blind red dragoness poked her head out from the cave.

"Yeah, I'm telling Tiger one, wanna come?" Hematite said in her mature voice.

Tiger hated that Hematite talked to the other dragons like an adult, but talked in a less mature fashion to her. It made her feel less important.

"Ah, I'd love to. And your scales look wet, and you wouldn't _dare_ swim in the cold river. You must've used the Springs," Pyrope chuckled and swung her head to stare at Tiger with her white, milky, sightless eye, "Naughty again, eh, Tiger? Well, I don't blame you."

Hematite smiled and headed into the room, and just as she left, Pyrope whispered in Tiger's ear, "Make sure you cover that hole, you might get in trouble."

Tiger looked at Pyrope in disbelief, _How does she know!?_ Pyrope winked and headed after Hematite.

Tiger stood for a second, completely confused before Hematite poked her head out, "Are you gonna join us?"

Tiger shook her head, "I gotta take care of something real quick. I'll be right back."

"Oh alright. Hurry back! This story is for you after all." Hematite's snout disappeared around the corner.

Tiger sprinted off to her hole to cover it before anything bad could happen. As she picked up a good-sized rock to shove into the sizable gap, Tiger was stopped by the beauty of the sunset.

Dropping the rock, she stared at this rare sight.

The sky was streaked with orange and red light, the clouds a faint purple. She stayed there until the sky went black.

Sighing, she picked up the stone and looked out one more time.

But instead of seeing the stone pass, the now-black sky with stars shining in it's depths, she was face to face with blue scales.

 **Yeah, a lot happened, but this story has a new meaning for me. It represents my old forum and how good it was, and all the great people I met. So yee. Another chapter done.**


	3. Fly Away

**I iz back! (dat cliffhanger doe last chapter)**

Tiger screeched and backpedaled, but then the dragon turned and smiled at her, his face lax.

"WhUzzA MaTter WitH yoU?" his words slirred and eyes drooping.

Sard shoved the rock into the hole, and sprinted away. She dashed into the cave where all the dragons sat, listening to Hematite.

"And the young princess-" Hematite stopped to acknowledge Tiger, "Glad that you came! Join us!"

"Um... Yeah uh... There's a..." Tiger pranced around the cave before she took a deep breath, "SOMEONE FOUND US!"

As if on cue, there was a cacophany of stones falling to the ground.

Vermillion shot up. She peeked her snout through the cave. She must've seen something she didn't like, as the cave began to fill with smoke.

"Who left the hole!?" She shouted.

Tiger knew she had to own up, "I did. I went to close it and they found me."

Vermillion turned on her and growled, her eyes full of fear, "How could you?!"

Hematite stood between them, "Vermillion, you made terrible mistakes to lead us down here, so back off. We all make mistakes. We don't have time for this. Get to the deeper caves everyone!"

The oldest dragons went first, the young helping them down. Tiger was helping Pyrope down as the sounds of smashing rock came closer.

"Tiger, I think-" Pyrope began to speak but her mouth was filled with smoke.

Pyrope and Tiger were the last in line, and just as Tiger was the clear the ledge, sharp claws pulled her up.

"TIGER NO!!!" Hematite screamed as she struggled up the rocks.

"HEMATITE HELP ME!" Tiger began to wriggle in this sharped-claw grip.

Hematite tried to scramble up the rocks, but they gave way under her heavy talons. The resulting rockslide covered her friends from view, and all was silent except for the many dragons grabbing her wings and binding them, and covering her mouth.

She was dragged across the caves, still struggling to get away, but halfway through, something slammed into her head and everything went dark.

She woke up, a pain on the left of her head. There was a fire in front of her, and sillouettes of dragons staring at it.

The sillouettes were strange. Their horns curved down or not at all, and spikes marked their backs.

"She's awake, boys." A voice sounded behind her.

Turning her head, she saw a colorful version of Hematite's drawing of a RainWing in the dirt.

"Hello there, SkyWing." he chuckled, "Wow that feels weird on the tongue."

"Whrmf frmer mrrmf?" Tiger tried to speak, but her mouth was bound tight.

"Hold on," he stole a glance at the people around the fire, who didn't answer his call. They were now drinking out of a jug, singing and laughing.

He undid the rope around her mouth, "Speak fast ma'am. You won't be clean no more."

"Who are you? Where am I? What do you mean "not clean no more"?" she fired off her questions.

"These men are crazy. I'm the oldest here and know what they might do to you. The short and sweet, tortured and sold to one of the Queens. We need to get you out of here." he looked over at them, "They're downing the bottles faster than ever." he quickly pulled out a dagger and began to cut at the strings.

She noticed he was missing his claws, "Where are your claws?"

"Lost 'em." he answered quickly, "Lost 'em when I was stationed in the Ice Kingdom. Not enough polar bear to go around. As leader of my squad, I went without the fur." he was starting on the last rope as they heard a shout from the fire.

"HEY! Don't let her go!" an IceWing, or at least it looked like Hematite's drawing of one, shouted and all the other troops turned.

"Go go go!" he shouted as he ripped the rope off her wings, "Go Wings of Sky!" he shouted as Tiger took to the sky, "Exonerate, Exonerate!!" he shouted as the troops overtook him.

Tiger had no idea what he meant, but she flew higher and higher, revelling in the fresh air against her scales, the water vapor making them shine.

She had only flown inside a large cave before it collapsed, but out here, she could take advantage of windcurrents, which Pyrope always talked about.

Tiger scanned the ground, looking for a spot to land. She remembered back when she was small, and dreamed about leaving the cave.

The Rainforest Kingdom was smaller than Amber's map suggested, but it still provided more coverage for a SkyWing than anywhere else.

As Tiger reached for the canopy, as soon as she touched down, the leaves parted under her talons and she fell in between the branches.

 _Ugh... So that's how trees work._ She rubbed her head and tried to get out of the branches.

She scrambled out, but when she was finally out, she was thrown to the tree, then felt something sharp and cold at her throat.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" a voice hissed as Tiger opened her eyes.

A dark red dragon covered in mud held a knife to her throat and a snarl. Her eyes were a startling blue, and her horns were a contradictory yellow.

"Um... Hi?" Tiger tried to introduce herself but the dragon held her down.

"What are you doing here? Where do your loyalties lie?" she growled.

"Um... I have no clue I came from the mountain." Tiger shifted her wings.

"Ugh." the red dragon released her, "You're useless to me. I have no clue how you found me, but you _better. not. blab._ " she brandished her blade again.

"I won't, but, what's going on?" Tiger asked as her attacker began to stalk away. Realizing she might be left alone again, she followed the SkyWing.

 **Boom. Third chapter done! Also, I forgot to tell you, March 22nd is 473-5's birthday! So in order to celebrate this wondrous occasion, I will edit all the chapters and fix them up, then post a cover!**


End file.
